Assessing the Appeal of Vine

Article Last Updated: August 5, 2017 by Rob Sutter

A number of months back, I went through a kick of watching nothing but Vine videos. It was easy enough to do, given the fact that each video does not even reach the ten-second mark, and I found myself impressed by the sheer creativity in many of them. It seemed like if there was any social platform that forced its users to make the most of what they had – keep in mind that it wasn’t much – it was Vine. Today, it’s hard to meet someone who hasn’t, at the very least, heard of Vine.

What exactly is the appeal of Vine, though? Yes, videos are fun to watch and, in terms of brand awareness done by any Internet marketing company, this type of visual content is arguably the easiest to digest. However, it’s important to understand why Vine is so popular before you decide to utilize it for any of your endeavors, whether they are business-related or not.

The simplest definition of Vine that I can give is a social platform where video sharing is the name of the game. Those who are unfamiliar to Vine might make the claim, “Wait, that sounds quite a bit like YouTube.” However, what makes Vine its own unique entity is that the videos in question are six seconds each. With this, I’m sure you’re wondering how exactly a service like Vine has been able to take off. After all, six seconds is not nearly enough time to tell a story, is it?

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Judging by the various videos on the site, it doesn’t appear as though this is the case. As referenced earlier, users on Vine have to work with what they have and they are able to create short yet entertaining videos as a result. Keep in mind that while stories aren’t going to be complex, the incorporation of mundane situations and unexpected results helps to make Vine spontaneous and, as a result, a service that can appeal to a reasonably younger demographic than other platforms.

To best illustrate the aforementioned spontaneity, take a moment to look at some of the more recognized Vine users. When Vine was gaining ground, I remember former MADtv cast member Will Sasso being one of the first people to gain true popularity there. His videos of himself spitting full lemons out of his mouth were unlike anything that was seen before, in regards to Internet comedy, which was why Sasso became known as a “Vine celebrity.” It also didn’t hurt that he used said lemons in different situations, as to not run an idea into the ground so quickly.

To put it simply, if you want to become recognized on Vine, certain methods have to be brought into effect. What works on YouTube may not necessarily work on Vine. You have to be mindful of how much time you have and, just as importantly, get to the point quicker. If you are able to reach a level of popularity on Vine similar to Sasso’s, it’s easy to say that you can make it on just about any other video sharing platform.

Note: This post is a guest post from a member of our DMR Insider Community.